Guys,
thanks a bunch for taking the time to post. Excellent info.

What is finally dawning on me is that it is not that 10 ga wire can't carry the amps, it can, the motor's own wiring is 10 ga. Of course there is only a few feet of it. The problem is that a 20 foot run of 10 ga wire causes a big voltage drop. Gotcha.

'course I'm talking about two different boats here. My '79 polarkraft 1452 is getting a new 40lb Minnkota, with 6 ga wire going through a breaker, then the lenght of the boat, to a plug/receptable that is wired with 10 ga wire, into a motor that runs 10 ga wire. So, in my installation, I am using less than a foot of 10 ga wire, which won't be a problem. right?

On my 17' Xpress, it has 10 ga 12V wiring now. I will upgrade to 6 ga wire and the existing plug and receptacle also use 10 ga wire, again no more than about a foot of it. And the new motor probably uses 10 ga wire from the terminals into the guts.

It is the voltage drop stupid! I'm telling myself that again so I'll finally get it.

thanks again,
Joe